Oliver Stone: 'I'm very fond of Mr. Chavez'

(CNN) - Academy award-winning director Oliver Stone made a documentary about Hugo Chavez several years back.

Perhaps one of Mr. Chavez's biggest defenders, Stone made a documentary that portrayed Chavez in such a positive light that Time magazine called it "a love story."

In an interview with CNN he spoke about how he regards the Venezuelan president.

"I became very fond of Mr. Chavez. I know Hugo to be a warm and giving person. I was with him on many occasions, he never... I don't think he ever.. I think he worked too hard and strained himself... he didn't sleep enough. I remember him always studying and I remember him warmly with his daughter and this man was in no way corrupt at all. I resent this kind of accusations that are thrown wildly at him by a press that hates him. A press that's privately owned that hates him because he changed the landscape. So, it's been very controversial. I put my foot into it and as a result I made a lot of new enemies in the U.S., which I didn't need but I believe in the man, I believe in the revolution, I believe in what happened in South America in the last 14 years and I think we needed that. They needed that.
People voted for him, he won 2013 elections. He won the last one, even without campaigning. He is popular in the country within the majority because he raised the living standard and that's the objective."